1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for a Fiber Optic Photochemical Oxidation Decontamination or FOPOD system for in-situ including in-vivo remediation of aqueous leachate plumes.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
The most common way of remediating contaminated groundwater plumes is to use some combination of injection and extraction wells. Extraction wells are used to lower the piezometric surface, creating a hydraulic gradient that draws the plume to the wells. Injection wells raise the water table and push the plume away. By regulating the pumping rates of these wells and by careful location of these wells, plumes can be drawn toward extraction wells. Extracted contaminated groundwater must be then treated and either reinjected back into the aquifer, reused or released into the local surface water system. The maintenance and operational costs of hydrodynamic control of contaminated groundwater plumes is extremely high since the wells must be pumped for many years.
Chemical and photochemical oxidation methods, evolving in recent years, for leachate plume remediation still use the pump and treat method. The groundwater must be pumped to the surface, where it is either filtered with activated charcoal to capture unwanted chemicals or exposed to ultraviolet light after exposure to hydrogen peroxide, ozone or titanium dioxide to break compounds into acceptable substances. The problem with this approach is that billions of dollars are being wasted on variations of the same unproductive pump and treat methods.
Alternatives to pump and treat include underground stripping, which involves surrounding a plume of contaminants with a ring of wells where stream is injected to mobilize the chemicals and send them into a central retrieval well. The are then sucked out by a vacuum cleaning process known as vapor extraction. Many of these treatment processes do not destroy the contaminant but merely transfer the contaminant from the water to another environment which will then require additional attention. These conventional chemical oxidation methods are also generally ineffective and very expensive.
Even though U.S. Pat. No. 5,130,032 to Sartori discloses an electrostatic ozone chemical oxidation method, the contaminated water must still be pumped before treated. With the development of many technologies for treating contaminated leachate plumes, there is no prior art for the in-vivo treatment of aqueous leachate plumes. Some attempts have been made at groundwater protection, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,604 to Wagner et al. whereas treated leakage is collected by a drain system and is recovered therefrom for subsequent treatment and/or disposal. Again, this does not comprise art related to this invention for in-vivo remediation of aqueous leachate plumes.